Young Volcanoes
by SwitchbladeSweetheart
Summary: Ivy Rowan has just skipped town with her jerk of a stepfather Randy because of trouble he started with one of his dealers. Randy is notorious for kicking Ivy to the curb for days on end so when she gets kicked out on her second night in town and she runs into one of the gang shes in for ride. New friends, family, enemies and maybe even romance await this young volcano.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: Sadly I don't own The Outsiders, just Ivy and her jerk of a stepdad, Randy.**

 **(Also pretty please read the AN at the bottom because it contains some kinda important info thanks :)**

Young Volcanoes Chapter One

Ivy Rowan was not a happy camper. She wasn't even a camper at all, or at least by choice that is. She was cold and alone in a new city and to top it all off it was getting dark.

If you had told Ivy a week ago that her stepfather would be waking her up in the dead of night yelling at her to pack a bag so they could skip town, she probably would have been reluctant to believe you. Sure, Randy took part in less than favorable activities and he often kicked her out of the house for days on end but something like this had never happened before. He of course wouldn't tell her why they were leaving but Ivy could easily assume that he'd finally pissed off one of his dealers enough for serious threats to be made. Ivy had learned a long time ago not to question Randy so, in the short amount of time given, she managed to stuff her possessions into a single backpack, snatch up her guitar and make it to Randy's old truck without getting yelled at.

They had drove for almost three days, stopping twice at extremely seedy motels, before they made it to Tulsa Oklahoma. Why Tulsa? Ivy sure didn't have a clue, but it was where they were so she was going to have to deal with it.

The first thing she had noticed about Tulsa was that there was a clear economic divide. The West side, which they had drove through when they first entered the city, was obviously high class. Big houses, fancy cars and well dressed people resided in the West side. The farther East they drove though the more run down things began to look. The changes were subtle at first. There more potholes in the road and everything looked slightly dulled, less colourful. Then the houses got smaller and smaller and fell into various states of disrepair. The lawns were unkempt and the cars were mostly old beaters. Another significant change was the people. The people on this side of the city were far less fancy than those in the West and their styles were drastically different, especially in the other teenagers she had seen. Short skirts, tight jeans, leather jackets and greased hair seemed to be common on the East side, while in the West it was dresses, letterman jackets, and no grease in sight.

Of course in Chicago, where they came from, there was definitely an economic divide as well but it was nothing like this. The amount of clear separation was painfully obvious. Another obvious but painless fact was that they would most definitely be living in the East side.

Randy was the farthest thing from being rich as you could get without being homeless. In Chicago they had lived in a one bedroom apartment where the living room doubled as Ivy's bedroom. This meant that more often than not she fell asleep listening to a drunk, high or sometimes both, Randy yelling at their TV which had been rescued from someone's curb. The power was constantly on and off at the apartment as well because Randy would rather pay to feed his various addictions than worry about the state of their apartment. There was also always a distinct lack of food and a constant clutter of beer bottles and drug paraphernalia in the apartment.

Randy had instilled a 'fend for yourself' law in Ivy when she was young because she often got on his nerves and hell she wasn't even his real daughter yet here he was stuck with her. Randy also believed that the only way to survive in this world was with tough love or no love at all. This mind set led Randy to kick Ivy out of the house for the first time when she was nine.

Ivy was always an energetic and happy child. She was always asking questions and trying to get Randy to play with her. Getting on Randy's nerves was also one of her unintentional strong suits. Randy had had enough one day. He was hungover and the disappointment of striking out at the bar the night before was getting to him so he was in no mood to deal with the kid. The only thing he could think of to do was what his old man always did when he was younger, so he put an extra pair of clothes in her tiny school bag along with her favorite turtle stuffed animal, handed her a dollar and told her to come back in a day. Ivy, being used to going to the park alone, was thrilled at first. She would get to go spend the day at the park playing with the neighborhood children and maybe with the money Randy had given her she could get some ice cream! By the end of the day she was exhausted from having fun and she was absolutely radiating happiness. This day had been so much fun but now she wanted to have dinner, no matter how yummy it is eating ice cream all day isn't exactly that filling, and then climb onto the couch and go to sleep. She was in for a shock though when the apartment door was locked. Randy never locked the door not even at bedtime. She had banged on the door with her tiny fists for what seemed like hours but Randy didn't answer. That night was spent going hungry and crying loudly until she fell asleep curled up with Spike the turtle against the apartment door. Randy had eventually let her back inside the next day but it wasn't the last time something like this occurred. Staying on the streets for a couple nights in a row became a common thing when Randy got to the end of his rope and could no longer handle being around her. Kicking her out so often did seem cruel even to a mean old bastard like him but he knew it was better than letting her stay and having him lose his temper. God only knew how much worse it would be for her then.

The house in Tulsa was actually slightly better than the old apartment in Chicago. The one story house was in rough condition with a dilapidated porch and a smashed front window being the first things Ivy noticed about the house. The siding on the house looked to be a dirty grey but Ivy could imagine that it was a bright blue in its prime. Ivy was good at that. Imaging what things used to be like and what they could be like with enough time and effort. She could visualize her and Randy going out to get paint and wood then fixing up the outside of the house instead of leaving it to deteriorate further. They would also hire someone to come fix the window instead of taping a garbage bag over it and leaving it like that until the end of time. She knew none of this would ever happen but it was fun to imagine. The inside of the house was somewhat better off than the outside. The walls were covered in old grandma style wallpaper and the living room floor had a gross orange looking carpet littered with various questionable stains. There was no furniture in the living room besides a single brown reclining chair that looked like it would eat you if you sat in it. Ivy had peeked into the single bathroom only to crinkle her nose in disgust at the smell and what she presumed to be mold growing along the bottom of the wall and around the tub. The kitchen wasn't any better either. There was a clunky green refrigerator in the corner that was making weird sounds and the counters and sink looked like you wouldn't want to touch them with a ten foot pole. Ivy didn't even look inside the fridge or the oven because she was afraid of what she would find. Down the hall there was a room which Randy had already claimed for himself so Ivy had decided not to investigate. The last room at the end of the short hall was hers. Ivy was nervous. This was the first bedroom she had ever had. For as long as she could remember she had slept on the smelly couch in the living room in Chicago. She didn't know why she was nervous, it was only a bedroom right? She should have been excited and happy. She decided to suck it up and ignore her nerves as she took a deep breath and opened the door with a shaky hand.

The room was small and empty. There was a window on the wall directly across from the door and a closet without a door on the left. She had walked to the window and ran her finger across the window sill only for it to come back with a layer of dust on it. The whole house was covered in a fine layer of dust just like her room and she wondered how long it had been since someone had lived here.

That night Ivy had a hard time sleeping. It may have had to do with the fact that she was sleeping on the hard floor of her new bedroom with only a thin blanket she had brought with her. Or it could have been all the cluttered thoughts in her head. The past few days she hadn't really had time to question much, not that Randy would have answered her anyway. She knew that they were probably on the run from one of Randy's dealers. He was known for 'borrowing' from his dealers and promising to pay them back but never actually having the money. More than once he had come home beat up for pissing off his dealer. He must have gone too far this time and his dealer wasn't going to put up with it anymore. She also wondered how they had managed to get a house on such short notice. It probably had to do with the late night phone calls from the creepy motel phone booths. Randy had connections and he knew enough about illegal shit to get a house like this quick. She managed to fall asleep around two in the morning but was then woken up at eight by Randy busting in to her room telling her to get out of the house.

That's why she was now walking down the street looking for a place to stay the night. She had walked around for most of the day exploring and she was still tired from the lack of sleep the night before.

' _Of course he kicks me out on our first full day here.'_ Ivy thought to herself as she kicked a rock down the sidewalk in front of her. She was used to staying on the streets at home but she knew next to nothing about this new city.

' _He could have at least given me a couple days to get to know this place before telling me to hit the curb.'_ She had no clue where the safe places to stay were, where she could get cheap food or if there were any gas stations around here who would let her use their bathrooms to clean up if Randy didn't let her come home anytime soon. The longest he had ever made her stay out was a week tops but with what was going on Ivy figured there was a good chance that they would break the record this time.

Ivy stopped walking. Up ahead she could see an empty lot with a campfire shining through the dark of the night and she could see the silhouette of a lone person sitting in front of it. ' _Well let's hope they need some company because I sure could.'_ She thought as she hefted her backpack farther up her back and her guitar case strap onto her shoulder then started walking toward the person who, unbeknownst to her, would help change her life.

* * *

 **Hey friends! Wow its been almost five years since I have posted anything on this site! Honestly I was twelve and my writing sucked at the time (its probably still not that amazing now but I feel it has improved enough for me to confidently post a story:)) I love the Outsiders and there definitely are not enough fics for it so I thought I would help by contributing. Sadly this chapter is mostly just an introduction to Ivy but we will for sure be meeting the one of the gang next chapter (take a guess who!) and maybe some of the others as well. Also I haven't quite decided who I want my girly paired up with although I have two in mind that I cant decide from so I might make a poll but if you want to leave a review with who you think you would like her paired up with that would be great :) I hope to make future chapters longer as well so don't worry. Okay so enough with the extremely long AN, I'll try not to ever have one this long again. Thank you so much for taking the time to read my rambling, see you guys in a day or two with the next chapter! Bye!**


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Just like the rest of us here, I do not own The Outsiders. Lets all take a moment to cry together.

Young Volcanoes Chapter Two

As Ivy got closer to the lone figure by the fire she got a better look at them. From what she could see, which was mostly just their back, the person was a boy. He had a slight build and shaggy black hair so slick with grease that the firelight shined off of it. He was wearing a jean jacket with the collar popped up around his ears, Ivy guessed it was for extra warmth but it also gave him defensive look especially when it was coupled with the way his body was curled in on itself. Ivy was suddenly not so sure if she should really be doing this. It would really suck to be killed by a homeless looney on her second night in Tulsa, but what else was she supposed to do? She needed a place to stay, that fire looked mighty inviting and company would be nice, safety in numbers and all that.

' _And anyway'_ , she thought optimistically, _'if he does end up trying to murder me I could always hit him with my guitar case and leg it outta here.'_ Although it was doubtful she would be able to follow through with that plan because carrying around her guitar was one thing, but swinging it up to hit someone with it was pretty much out of the question. Ivy was by no means an athletic girl. She was five foot nothing and made mostly of an extremely squishy tummy. There was no way she could outrun this guy either. All in all she was way more likely to cling to her guitar for dear life while running a couple of feet before giving up completely and letting him tear her to shreds, but the last bit might have just been her overactive imagination coming out to play.

Ivy's moment of slight hesitation didn't slow her down much though, as she continued forward with an excited skip in her step. This could be her chance to make her first new friend after all. The sound of her worn out sneakers across the damp grass must have alerted the boy to her presence because he immediately tensed up more than he already was and whipped around like a startled deer.

"Hey, sorry if I startled you!" Ivy said with a smile and a small wave. Until this boy showed any psycho qualities she was going to act like she did with any other stranger and treat him like he was an old friend she had known for most of her life. Some people had issues with this kind of friendly treatment straight off the bat, but it was in her nature so they just had to deal with it and adjust fast or ignore her completely.

The boys brows furrowed and his big eyes looked up at her with mistrust, like she was going to suddenly attack him. It was in that moment that Ivy noticed the scar on his cheek. Someone had hurt him at some point and he was just being cautious. Understanding washed over her. Painful events stayed with a person and it was sometimes hard to get over it, but Ivy knew first hand that to move on with your life you needed to let go of your fear and try to trust again.

Behind the mistrust in the boys eyes there was sadness and hurt. Ivy had once been told that the eyes were the windows to the soul and she wanted to know why such beautiful windows were displaying such an equally broken soul.

When the boy didn't respond she flopped onto her butt beside him by the fire. When he followed her movements with a confused look she figured she might as well just jump right in and introduce herself, she wasn't one to beat around the bush anyway.

"My name's Ivy." She said cheerfully. "I'm kinda new around here and I needed a place to stay for the night. I saw your fire and thought you looked like you could use some company." Her voice was friendly and sincere, and she could see the boy relax the tiniest bit but that was encouragement enough for Ivy to stay. The boy didn't say anything so she raised her eyebrows in amusement. "Is it alright with you if I stay? I wouldn't want to intrude, Mr…?"

It took a moment for the boy to realize what she was trying to get out of him and for a second Ivy thought he was going to ignore her question completely and keep staring at her until he responded in a quiet voice, "Johnny… No mister."

' _Is that a little blush I see?'_ Ivy thought humorously. Obviously he was shy. _'We'll see how long that lasts after hanging out with me for any amount of time.'_ Ivy had the habit of saying things before they had the chance to process in her mind, this usually ended up making her say some pretty embarrassing things. She was used to it and could easily laugh it off so it wasn't a big deal to her. It also helped people who were normally shy or nervous feel better what hanging out with her because it was hard to be embarrassed about yourself when she was around and making a fool of herself.

"So Johnny," she smiled as she said his name, "how old are you?" He looked fairly young to Ivy, maybe around fourteen. Not that she could say much considering she looked like she was twelve. _'Just one of the many_ _ **wonderful**_ _side effects of being a heroin addicted preemie baby'_ Ivy snorted quietly at the thought. She was lucky that was the only major side effect she had to deal with.

Johnny gave her a questioning look about the sound but when she smiled and shook her head at him in a 'never mind' fashion he answered her question with a softly muttered, "Sixteen."

"Really? Awesome, I'm sixteen to!" she then giggled at the surprised look on his face. "I know, hard to believe right? No offense but I think we should totally start the 'We're Older Than We Look, We Swear!' club." She watched his face closely to see if she had overstepped any boundaries and wanted to dance around where she sat when she saw the corner of his mouth twitch upwards. It was small and it only lasted a millisecond but it gave her enough reassurance that Johnny wouldn't be too easily offended by her humor.

"Ha! I saw that, don't think I didn't." she said excitedly.

"Saw what?" he asked.

"That little lip twitch. That counts as a smile in my books, and y'know what that means?" at the shake of his head she elaborated, "that means we just bonded, my wonderful bird of a feather, and that means we're friends now." Then it was her turn to furrow her brows. "I mean, if you want to be friends? I can be annoying for a majority of the time but I promise you won't regret it. Or you could just ignore me for awhile and I'd eventually leave you alone." She ended with a frown on her petite cherry red lips.

"Okay." He nodded.

"Okay…? As in 'okay I'll ignore you until you go away' or 'okay we'll be friends because you seem like an alright girl who I wouldn't mind dealing with'?" she questioned.

He pretend to think for a moment before simply saying, "The second one."

' _So he's got a sense of humor to. I can tell he's gonna to be a tough nut to crack but I can definitely work with this.'_ She thought mischievously. A soft smile spread across her face. "That's great, really great. Thanks Johnny." When he didn't respond she turned to stare at the fire with a satisfied look in her eyes.

She didn't know how long they sat there quietly looking at the fire and, of course, sneaking looks at one another while both pretending they didn't notice it. She knew she was a chatter box and it was odd for her to stay so quiet for this length of time without feeling like she was going to burst, but with Johnny it was comfortable. She could tell he was still slightly confused by the random chick who showed up and interrupted his quiet evening and practically forced her friendship upon him. She didn't regret doing it though and took comfort in the fact that he wasn't as tense or scared looking as he was when they first met.

She definitely wanted to know why he was out here on his own. Was he homeless or just looking for momentary solitude? She honestly hoped it was neither because she didn't want to think about her new friend living on the streets but she also didn't want to have been the one to ruin his quiet time. She refrained from asking any of her many questions though and instead decided to just accept his company as it was for now. If he was being truthful about actually wanting to be friends with her then hopefully he'd eventually tell her these things on his own.

Maybe she was too trusting because, at what she would guess was around midnight, she decided to lay down on the hard ground, with her lumpy backpack as a pillow, to try and get some sleep. She didn't believe he would do anything to her or try to mug her either. She didn't really have much to take anyway, but that was besides the point.

Just as her eyes closed she heard a crinkling sound and she felt Johnny gently nudge her leg. She opened her eyes to see Johnny holding out a couple handfuls of old news paper. She took it with a grateful smile, too scared to break the warm silence around them. Ivy sat up and quickly set the newspaper down on the ground to give her just a little bit of protection from the dampness of the grass. She then settled back down on her side and used the rest of the papers as blankets, something was better than nothing she had always said.

She looked back over at Johnny who was fixing himself a place to sleep a few feet away from her. _'So he did intend to sleep out here after all.'_ She thought tiredly. She hoped he would still be there when she woke up. She would hate to wake up to find her new friend gone and have no clue how to find or contact him. Maybe that was his plan though. No, she decided, she might not have known him for more than two or three hours but she had a gut feeling that he wasn't like that. He was too good for that.

"G'night Johnny. Thanks for letting me crash your party, I really appreciate it." She mumbled quietly and let out a big yawn.

"G'night Ivy." Was his simple response as well as the last thing she heard before she drifted off to sleep beside a boy she barely knew, but knew she was already attached to.

* * *

 **Holy heck! I can't believe I got this done in a day! I blame LetMeChooseAFreakingName and Lanidays for being my very first reviewers and getting me hyped to post a new chapter so a great big thanks you two! Also a big thanks to the people who favourited and followed my story. I really hope I got Johnny right in this chapter. I wanted their meeting to be as natural as possible and not have Johnny immediately comfortable or anything like that. hopefully I get more comfortable with writing him as time goes on because I love him so much and I want to do him justice so feedback would be great! I also think I have decided to keep Ivy/Johnny purely two platonic peas in a sibling pod instead of having them all romancey (sorry to anyone who was looking for a Johnny romance!). I also love Two-bit but again hes going to be purely a sibling bond (sorry!) so I'm thinking of eventually sticking her with our favourite bad boy, Dally or our goofy neighborhood model, Soda! Feedback would be great on that situation as well. Sorry for another long AN. These will get shorter as I figure out whats going on, I promise.**

 **Bye xoxo**

 **-SwitchbladeSweetheart**


	3. Chapter 3

Young Volcanoes Chapter Three

When Ivy woke up with sun the next morning she was pleased to find Johnny still there. The fire must have went out sometime during the night because all that was left were lightly glowing embers. The air was beginning to warm up already as the sun rose over the horizon and Ivy let out a groan because she knew that meant it was going to be a doozy today. She did not do well in the heat, not one bit. She didn't particularly like the cold though either. _'Why can't we just have a happy medium? Not too hot, not too cold. Is that too much to ask for?'_ she shook her head and let out an exasperated sigh while silently cursing Mother Nature.

Ivy turned to study the sleeping Johnny then, and found he looked much different asleep then when he was awake. He looked innocent, like nothing bad had ever happened to him. He looked at peace. Unfortunately, Ivy remembered the look in his big eyes from the night before along with the scar that marred his cheek. The scar which was conveniently hidden by the arm he was using for a pillow. He was sleeping on his stomach with his head resting at an odd angle on his curled arm. It looked pretty uncomfortable to Ivy who liked to sleep on her side with her knees pulled up to her chest. She was once told by a boy she met at a homeless shelter that she resembled a tiny kitten all curled up in its sleep. At the time she was still sensitive about her small stature and had resented being compared to a kitten, but if someone had said something like that now she would probably blush uncontrollably and take it as a complement. She had eventually learned to embrace her height because sometimes being short came with advantages. She could easily weasel her way through big crowds, she was great at hide-and-seek, and she had found out that quite a few boys liked shorter girls. When Ivy had asked a boy about it he had said something about short girls making them feel big and manly. She had thought that sounded stupid but agreed with the guy anyway and accepted the fact that she would never understand the male ego.

Johnny groaned and rolled over, signaling that he was awaking up and startling Ivy from her thoughts. She was tempted to watch him as he woke but she didn't want to look like some sort of creep so she pretend to be busy getting the knots out of her hair with her fingers.

"Morning." Ivy greeted him with a gentle smile. It wouldn't do her any good to overwhelm him with her happy attitude just after he woke up, she didn't want to scare him off so soon.

"Mornin'." he replied with a yawn. The last bit of his sleeping innocence drifted away as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes and surveyed the lot around them. He then looked over at her a bit awkwardly. "I've got ta go." He mumbled.

"Oh yeah, school, am I right?" It was Friday so it seemed logical that's where he'd be going so early in the morning. He nodded.

"Are you going?" he gestured toward her ratty backpack.

"Nah. I haven't been here long enough to enroll and anyway I dropped out last year." She said with a laugh.

"Oh." His eyebrows crinkled in confusion but he stood up without questioning her about it. He looked up the road and shifted nervously on his feet. He looked like he wanted to say something but didn't know how so Ivy did what she does best and took the pressure off him.

"Well, you don't want to be late right? I'll see you around though, yeah? I mean we are in a club together now after all." She joked. He relaxed a bit with her joking, then nodded.

"Yeah. See ya around." He said with a small, unsure smile before he turned around and walked off down the street. She watched his shoulders hunch up around his ears as he shoved his hands in his pockets and kept his eyes on his feet.

"Bye! Have a good day!" she yelled at his quickly retreating figure. He stopped momentarily to turn his head to give her a small nod and then he was off again. Ivy giggled softly to herself at his shy nature. She knew that boy was dealing with things she wasn't even sure she wanted to think about and he was shoved so far up his shell that she was surprised he had even responded to her at all. She was glad he had interacted with her though. She knew that once she coaxed him out of his shell a bit he'd make a great and loyal friend.

' _Let's hope he's got some patience as well because lord knows I can get out of hand sometimes.'_ She thought, disappointed in herself. She had lost many friends before because of how annoying and clingy she could get. She couldn't help it though. She had tried to tone it down before and give her friends some space but that just left her feeling sad and alone. The rational part of her knew that giving her friends space was a good thing, everyone needed time to themselves after all, but she couldn't stop the paranoid part of her from thinking that they would forget about her or find someone better to be around. So she hung onto them with all her might, but in the end it had always pushed them away for good and she was back to square one. Square one was not a happy place and she didn't want to go there again. Ivy didn't know what was wrong with her but she was determined not to do the same thing with Johnny. She was going to give him space, she wasn't going to be jealous if he had friends already and she definitely was not going to be a burden like all the times before.

Ivy sat around at the lot for another half an hour relaxing before she decided she should stop being lazy and find somewhere to clean up so she could start job hunting. She had to find a place where she was sure Randy wouldn't go. It seemed like an impossible task, but she had learned when she got her first job at a diner that Randy finding out wasn't good. He would demand she start paying rent. _'Rent for a place I barely live? As if. He just needs it for booze and drugs.'_ Randy had confiscated half of her paycheck each week until she had finally quit and found a job he wouldn't find out about. He walked around for almost a full month afterwards grumbling about her being a 'useless dropout' which she found hilarious. She had been saving up most of her money, for what she didn't know, but she was fresh out of all her savings now. Randy had caught her trying to pack her shoebox of cash during the 'midnight emergency move' as she'd dubbed it. That was another reason she was incredibly pissed at him. That was a years worth of savings gone in seconds! How could she not be angry? Some of her rage was cooled though when she thought of how Randy had bought the house and how they had stayed at two motels on the way here. At least her money had a chance at going towards something worthwhile.

Ivy remembered seeing a DX gas station while scoping out her new home the day before. Maybe she could use their washrooms to clean up a bit. She wanted to make a good impression on all possible future employers. It was at that moment her stomach let out a roar. _'Guess I'll have to see about getting something to eat first huh?'_ she only had a bit of money, most of which was change she found floating around in her backpack but she had also lucked out and found a dime on the ground yesterday. Just thinking about food was making her stomach ache. She hadn't eaten since breakfast yesterday morning and she felt fine until the moment her stomach decided to speak up, and now it was all she could think about. Her stomach rumbled again. "Okay, okay! Food first, then gas station, then job." She nodded to herself then gathered up her things and trudged off to find herself a diner. Or a grocery store. Or just anywhere that had food!

Who knew food could make a girl so happy? Ivy's tummy was full and no longer screaming at her and she now felt ready to take on the rest of the day. The diner she had gone to was fairly empty considering that it seemed like a prime teen hangout spot and most were in school. There were some older couples and a few teens who she assumed were dropouts like her. She didn't interact with anyone and no one tried to talk to her other than the waitress, who was very kind. Ivy was okay with this though because she was too busy stuffing food in her face and she probably would have seemed rude if someone had tried to talk to her. She thought momentarily about asking for a job at the diner then remembered Randy's dislike for cooking. He would probably end up there for every meal just so he wouldn't have to cook so it was out of the question.

By the time the DX was in sight she was getting antsy. Not because she was worried about them letting her use their washroom, but because she actually really had to go pee. _'This is what I get for drinking a full glass of ice tea and full glass of water. I shoulda' stopped at one, but I was super thirsty!'_

When she walked in she was greeted by an extremely handsome boy. He had dark blond hair that was brushed back and deep brown eyes. He was leaning casually against the cash register and when he heard her come in he looked up and sent her a thousand watt smile.

"Hey, how can I help you?" he asked, his voice was smooth and care free.

Ivy rocked on her feet for a second, "I, uh, I could really use the restroom if that's okay?" she asked and she could feel her face getting warm. Of course the first impression he would have of her would be from her doing to potty dance and stuttering while asking to use the washroom. It was just her luck. She knew she didn't have a chance with him at all, and she wasn't looking for a boyfriend, but come on, could anyone blame a girl for being embarrassed in front of such a good looking guy?

"Yeah sure. Right over there." He said and pointed to a door with a plaque that said 'Restroom' on it. Ivy managed to breath out a quick "Thank you" before rushing to the door.

Once Ivy relived herself she felt ten times better. She then dug through her backpack to find her little pack of toiletries. The restroom was a single room with a sink and a toilet without stalls. This is why she wanted to wash up here. She could have done this at the diner but it lacked the privacy. She didn't have to worry about people walking in on her washing up here. She pulled out a balled up washcloth and unwrapped her little bar of soap that she took from one of the motel bathrooms along with a mini two-in-one shampoo and conditioner. She then pulled off her shirt and used the soap and washcloth to wipe herself down. She looked in the mirror and winced when she saw how gross her straw blonde hair looked. The last time she had a real shower was at the motel the day before they got here so it had been almost three days since she had showered.

' _No wonder Johnny didn't talk much. He was probably trying to hold his breath."_ she thought with a chuckle. The days were hot and she sure was smelling ripe. She quickly did her best to wash her hair in the small sink. It was quite the ordeal considering she had waist length hair that was, in her opinion, way thicker than it needed to be. When she was finally done she pulled an extra pair of underwear and an extra t-shirt out to change into. She only had the pair of jeans she was wearing so they would have to make due until she could find somewhere to wash them where she wouldn't get caught sitting around in her underwear waiting.

When Ivy was done redressing she threw her soaking wet hair up in a ponytail and secured it with an elastic off her wrist. She checked herself in the mirror to make sure she was presentable before exiting the restroom. The boy from the cash register was still there and he was staring right at her. She could tell from the pitying look on his face that he knew what was up. She was probably in the restroom for about fifteen minutes and that along with the fact that she was wearing different clothes and her hair was sopping wet was a dead giveaway that she was currently living on the streets. She didn't really care though, she grew up on and off the streets and knew all about pitying glances and zero action. Of all the adults who had given her sad or pitying looks when she was a little girl not one of them took even a second to try and help her like she wished they would. She sometimes grieved for her younger self and the pain the looks caused her. She was older now though, and knew how to take care of herself so the looks sent her way didn't make her angry anymore. They did make her feel guilty though. People felt bad for her when they saw her on the streets, and it made her feel like she was burdening them emotionally when she knew that every single one of them had there own problems already. They didn't need to feel bad for her and that's why she always tried her best to be her happiest.

"I haven't ever seen you around before. You new in town?" the boy asked, startling Ivy out of her thoughts.

"Yup," she popped the 'p' "just moved here two days ago. My names Ivy." She stuck her hand out to shake and smiled brightly at him. _'Is a handshake too weird for this situation? Should I have just gone for a wave?'_ She was relieved when his strong hand griped hers and gave her a firm shake coupled with another one of his blinding smiles.

"I'm Sodapop Curtis, it's nice to meet you." He replied.

"Sodapop?" she wondered if it was a nickname.

"That's what it says on my birth certificate" he said and he laughed like it was something he had said a thousand times before. _'With a name like that I bet he has. It's an awesome name though!'_

"That's awesome! Your parents must be really cool people." She said with child-like awe in her voice. A bittersweet smile washed across his face and Ivy knew immediately she had said something wrong.

"Yeah, they were." he said with a nod. _'_ _ **Oh.**_ _'_ Ivy instantly felt the need to give her condolences and apologize, but she knew that constantly hearing people saying sorry for something they had no control over never really made you feel better and it usually ended up grating on your nerves instead.

"I bet." She said with a simple smile which she hoped would cheer him back up. He seemed thankful for the fact she didn't make a big deal about and she was glad she made the right choice.

"So how do you like it here so far?" he got back on topic.

"It's nice. I miss home but I'll be okay once I get used to it here." An idea hit her then. He would obviously know the city better than her, so maybe he would know if anyone was hiring. "I could use some help though, if you wouldn't mind, do you know of any places that are hiring around here?" she asked. Before Sodapop could answer though, another boy walked in wiping his grease covered hands on a rag. He had started to say something but stopped when he looked up and saw Ivy standing there.

"Steve, perfect timing! This is pretty little lady here is Ivy. She's new in town and looking for a job, got any suggestions?" Sodapop clapped the new boy, Steve, on the back as she blushed lightly at being called a 'pretty little lady'.

"She even old enough to have a job?" Steve asked while looking her up and down with distaste. Ivy scrunched up her nose at his tone. _'And I thought I put out a bad impression with the potty dance. This guys got some serious work to do on his meeting new people manners.'_

"I'm sixteen actually, but thanks for the concern." She said sarcastically. She saw both their eyes widen and rolled hers in return.

"Oh, um, sorry." Steve rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. She waved him off with a smile to show she forgave him. "The only thing I can think of that's actually hirin' is the butcher shop downtown. Not sure that'd be something you're interested in though. Maybe the diner?" _'A butchers shop? Randy wouldn't step foot in a butchers shop considering he'd have to cook it himself. That's perfect!'_

"No, that's perfect actually. I'm pretty carnivorous so I'd probably get along good there." She said and patted her tummy for emphasis. "Do you think one of you boys could give me some directions?"

After giving her directions they chatted for a bit more before she thanked them for their help and then she was on her way. As she left the parking lot she turned and waved cheerfully. Both boys waved back, Sodapop even threw in a wink and yelled "Good luck!"

They were nice and Ivy liked them quite a bit. Sodapop, or just Soda as she was told was fine, was a huge charmer and it didn't even seem like he had to try. Steve seemed a bit rougher but just as fun once he found out her age and she got over his cold reception. Maybe he had younger siblings and was just sick of dealing with little kids. One thing she did learn about him though was that he was a freak for cars. They had mainly talked about the DX and their jobs there and Steve had got right into talking about cars. Even though the information he was spouting off went way over her head, it was nice seeing someone so passionate about something, and she was genuinely interested so she asked lots of questions, which he seemed happy to answer. She could see it becoming a habit to go down to the DX to chat with those two. Who knew, maybe she could even learn some neat stuff about cars and make more friends at the same time.

* * *

 **Hey friends here's chapter three! I mostly read fics on the mobile app and I didn't realize how short these chapters looked on the desktop so I tried to make this one a bit longer. As you can see I have decided on the Ivy/Dally pairing, hooray! Thank you musiclover4ever and Bookworm for your reviews! Also, Bookworm I'm not sure you know how much you made my day when I read that you liked my writing style. I honestly never thought I had a style but thank you either way! Sorry if anybody found this chapter boring (we met Soda and Steve though!) but I think things are going to start picking up now and we might just end up at the Curtis' next chapter *wink wink* so stick around! Please drop me a line and tell me what you think because I feed off of reviews!**

 **Bye xoxo**

 **-SwitchbladeSweetheart**


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